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Building the Game Table

Last year, inspired by this post over on Board Game Geek, I constructed a gaming table. I had never tried anything like it before. Of all my father’s five children, I’m considered the least handy. I’ve called myself the “anti-Bob Villa” for years. I’m a big fan of the cross-eyed view. My completed projects look great, provided you look at them cross-eyed.

Mistakes were made, but I felt satisfied by the work. I learned a lot about measuring, cutting, and different types of wood. The table wasn’t perfect, but it worked out better than expected and I felt it added a lot to my RPG sessions. The mounted monitor in particular made it easy to share high quality maps and images with the folks seated around the table and added a nice level of detail to the sessions. Using HeroLab to share information during my Pathfinder sessions helped combat move much more smoothly.

Certain elements didn’t please me. At the time, I didn’t feel confident enough to handle the electrical work, I didn’t care for the wood stain and finish used, a layer of neoprene I mounted under the felt made the dice bounce a little too high, and the counter height of the table made it a bit more difficult to navigate around and play larger board games on. When I had to move last fall, take down, and reassemble the table, I realized I could take the opportunity to make some improvements.

Wiring the Table

After some long conversation with my brothers and the kind sales person from Home Depot, I felt ready wire up the table. I chose four USB enabled outlets, placing one on a side. I also mounted a standard outlet on the underside of the table to power the monitor. I worked slowly and carefully, checking at each step to make sure everything was connected tightly and enclosed in conduit. I’m happy to say, I didn’t even get shocked once!

Time for a Fresh Coat of Paint

Three coats of semi-gloss, black latex covered up the stained wood quite nicely.

Cut it Down to Size

Changing the height of the table from counter to standard required chopping off seven inches from the legs.

A Final Touch

The bottle opener is a crucial feature for those late night sessions.

Ready for Gamers!

Some new felt, sans neoprene, for better rolling.

I’ve got a couple of sessions scheduled for the near future. I will post some pictures of actual use, soon.

The USB Outlets are pretty nice. I was looking for something similar in the past, but they were built with the USB ports as sort of an add-on hanging under the outlet. Currently looking for a USB charging solution to mount inside a drawer.

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There are, of course, black people, indigenous people and people of color of all genders and sexual orientation in roleplaying and fantasy/sci-fi writing, and there always have been. We write (and read) comic books, graphic novels, fantasy and sci-fi novels. We create and play wargames and role-play

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